Positive All the Way, a documentary short from The Foundation for Global Sports Development and Sidewinder Films, won “Best Documentary” at the Together! 2020 Disability Film Festival. The film chronicles the growth of the Paralympic Games under the leadership of Sir Philip Craven, who was the president of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for 17 years. The Paralympic Games are a multi-sport event for athletes with physical, mental, and sensorial disabilities. The event takes place just after the Olympic Games in the same host city.
Premiering on PBS earlier this year, Positive All the Way features interviews with Sir Philip Craven and Paralympians Allison Compton and Katy Sullivan. Also interviewed are Xavier Gonzalez, the former CEO of the IPC; Craig Spence, the current Chief Brand and Communications Officer at the IPC; Tony Sainsbury, who has served as chef de mission for several Paralympic Games; and T.J. Quinn, a reporter for ESPN.
“As a sports-focused foundation, we know firsthand the impact sport can have in transforming society,” said Dr. Steven Ungerleider, the film’s director and producer. “As filmmakers, we also understand that documentaries like Positive All the Way can be a powerful tool to build awareness and education around topics like disability and the Paralympic Games.”
The UK-based Together! 2020 Disability Film Festival is hosted by Together! 2012 CIC, which is led by disabled artists based out of East London. The organization was founded during the 2012 Paralympic Games in London and is creating a Paralympic cultural legacy. This year the festival was held virtually, and all recordings of live events are available to view online.
Dr. Ju Gosling, Artistic Director for the festival, said, ““Our priorities for the Kat Awards are strong storytelling, highlighting the lived experiences of Deaf/Disabled people from diverse backgrounds, together with the overall theme for our Together! Disability History Month Festival 2020 of ‘Making History’. Positive all the Way is a well-made and highly watchable documentary that reveals the story behind the fundamental changes to the ways in which the Paralympics have been delivered and received in the 21st century. It clearly describes how activist Sir Phil Craven changed history by changing the way that Disabled people are perceived within wider society through changing the Paralympics.”
David Ulich, director and producer of Positive All the Way, said, “It is an honor to receive the Kat Award for Best Documentary. One of our goals with the film was to exemplify how people with disabilities can and have changed the world. Sir Philip, along with thousands of Paralympians over the decades, have been ambassadors for disability and sport.”
Positive All the Way can be streamed on PBS.org. To learn more about the film and The Foundation for Global Sports Development, please visit www.globalsportsdevelopment.org.
